Bright, dark red with ruby tones. High-pitched notes of spices, herbs and African violet lift the perfumed aromas of blackberry, boysenberry and huckleberry. Initially surprisingly creamy in the mouth for a wine from such a cool year, combining a sexy sweetness with lovely pepper and lavender lift. This wonderfully perfumed, precise wine is neither hard nor green. Most impressive today on the perfumed, rising, very long finish, which offers superb saline complexity, a subtle note of purple sage and outstanding peppery lift, with the tannins firm but not hard. A wonderfully scented wine from a very cool, late season; Baron told me that there were only three afternoons during the summer with temperatures above 90 degrees. (ST)

Long-time admirers of this wine may find the 2011 version a bit thin. It's a more subtle wine than is customary, the expressive funk subsumed below lighter layers of peat moss, sea salt and white chocolate. With decanting, scents of shittake mushroom, duck sauce and even chicken broth swirl up from the glass, with black tea flavors running through the tannins. (PG)

A vaguely gamy character informs the blackberry and licorice flavors in this spicy red, hinting at tomato leaf and dried tomato notes as the finish lingers. This has depth and presence. (HS)